Adjustable wrench



April 28, 1970 Q E, SCHUL-rz 3,508,456

ADJUSTABLE WRENCH Filed Oct. 29. 1968 BY 7%@M United States Patent Office Patented Apr. 28, 1970 3,508,456 ADJUSTABLE WRENCH Charles E. Schultz, Fairmont, Minn. 56031 Filed Oct. 29, 1968, Ser. No. 771,510 Int.. Cl. B25b 13/46 U.S. Cl. 81-62 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A ratchet wrench including a handle having a slotted head and a slotted ratchet jaw revolva'bly and and concentrically mounted within said head for movement relative thereto. A pair of lock elements engaging the ratchet jaw to lock the same in any position kbnt being selectively releasable therefrom to permit the ratchet jaw to be ratcheted in either direction and permitting the wrench to serve as either an open or box wrench.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION An object of this invention is to provide a ratchet wrench, of simple and inexpensive construction, having a ratchet jaw and a pair of cooperating spring urge lock elements which are normally urged into locked relation kwith the ratchet jaw, but which are selectively releasable to permit the ratchet jaw to ratchet in either direction and furher allowing the ratchet jaw to be locked in any given position. With this arrangement, the wrench may function not only as a ratchet wrench, but when in the locked adjusted position will serve as either a box or open type conventional wrench.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention lwill more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similiar parts throughout the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevational vew of one embodiment of the wrench,

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 with parts thereof broken away for clarity,

FIG. 3 is a top sectional view taken approxi-mately along line 3-3 of FIG. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings, it will be seen that one embodiment of the novel ratchet wrench, designated generally by the reference numeral is there shown. This wrench includes an elongate handle 11 formed of a pair of plates 12 which are rigidly secured together in a well-known manner. These plates 12 have parallel longitudinal flanges which define side edges 12a of the handle so that the handle has a hollow interior. The upper end portion of the handle is of arcuate or circular conlfiguration and defines a head 13 having a slot 14 therein which is disposed in alignment with the handle 11. It will be noted that the head 13 is of generally channel shaped configuration as best seen in FIG. 3 for accommodating a ratchet jaw therein.

The ratchet jaw 15 is also of generally circular contiguration and is positioned within the head 13 and concentrically thereof. The ratchet jaw 15 has a slot 16 therein which corresponds in size to the slot 14 in the head 13. The inner peripheral surface 0f the ratchet jaw 15 is defined by a plurality of symmetrically arranged gripping surfaces 17 so that the gripping surfaces are adapted to grip the geometrical head of a bolt or to grip a nut having substantially any given conventional symmetrical configuration.

The exterior surface of the ratchet jaw 15 defines a ratchet 18 comprised of a plurality of ratchet cogs 19 which are as shown of generally arcuate configuration, each adjacent pair of cogs 19 being separated by an arcuate concavity 20.

The ratchet jaw 1S is adapted to be revolved relative to the head or handle and means are provided for releasably locking the ratchet jaw to the ratchet head. This means includes a lock element 21 and a lock element 22 positioned interiorly of the handle 11 and pivotally mountted therein by a common pivot 23. The pivot 23 is secured to the plates 12 of the handle. The lock element 21 includes an arcuate ratchet engaging portion 24 while the lock element 22 includes an arcuate ratchet engaging portion 25. Each lock element is shiftable between locked and unlocked positions, and the lock elements are in the locked positions as seen in FIG. 2. It will be noted that the ratchet engaging portions 24 and 25 engage in adjacent concavities 20 of the ratchet 18 when the look elements to the locked position and this means includes Means are provided for normally urging the lock elements to the locked position and this means includes an elongate spring 26 for the lock element 21 and a similar spring 27 for the lock element 22. It will be noted that these springs 26 and 27 are of similar U-shaped construction and each includes a leg 28 which bears against the adjacent side wall 12a 0f the handle. Each spring also includes a bight portion 29 and an inner leg 30. It will be noted that the bight portion of the springs engage each other while the bent terminal portion of one leg 30 engages the lock element 21 and the bent terminal portion of the other leg 30 engages the lock element 22. With this arrangement, it will be noted that the lock elements 21 and 22 are normally urged into locking relation with respect to the ratchet 18 so that the ratchet jaw is locked against the movement with respect to the head 13.

The spring 26 tends to urge the lower end portion of the lock element 22 in a clockwise direction and movement thereof in this direction is limited by a stop surface 31 formed along one side or edge of vthe lock element. Similarly, the spring 37 tends to urge the lower end portion of the lock element 21 in a clockwise direction and movement thereof beyond a predetermined point is limited by stop surface 32 coacting lwitht he adjacent side wall 12a of the handle 11.

Means are provided for selectively releasing the spring 26 or spring 27 from engaging relation with its associated lock element and this means includes a cam 33. Cam 33 is revolvably mounted in the handle plates 12 and has an offset cam portion 34 which is shiftable from a neutral position, as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, in either direction to a release position. A handle 35 is secured to the cam and is located exteriorly of one of the plates 12. By shifting the cam in either direction, it will be seen that the offset cam portion 34 may be shifted into engaging relation with respect to one of the legs 30 to urge the same out of engaging relation with respect to the associated lock element. When this occurs, the ratchet jaw 15 may move relative to the handle and head in one direction, but will be locked for movement with the handle and head in the other direction.

In operation, assume, for example, that the ratchet jaw is in the position as illustrated in FIG. 1 and the handle 35 for the cam 34 is disposed in the neutral position as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. If a nut or bolt is gripped by the locking jaw, the wrench will then function in the manner of a conventional open end or C-type wrench.

In this regard, it is preferred that the width of the opening 14 in the head 13 be of a size corresponding to the size of the ratchet jaw. Therefore, if the ratchet jaw comprises a one-half inch ratchet jaw, then the opening 14 should also have a width dimension of one-half inch.

If it is desirable to use the wrench as a ratchet wrench, then it is merely necessary to shift the handle 35 of the cam 33 in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction to permit selective ratcheting to take place. If the handle 35 is shifted in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1, the offset cam portion 34 will also be shifted in a clockwise direction and will cause the leg 30 to be shifted out of engaging relation with respect to the lock element 32. When this occurs, the lock element 32 may pivot slightly in a clockwise direction about its pivot 23 to unlock the lock element from engaging relation with respect to the ratchet jaw 16. The lock element 21 will be retained in locked relation with respect to the ratchet jaw.

With the lock element 22 in an unlocked or released condition, moving the handle in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIGS. l and 2 will result in the ratchet jaw being moved with the handle and will allow ratcheting thereof when the handle is moved in a counterclockwise direction. Therefore, ratcheting occurs in the opposite direction from which the handle 35 of the cam is shifted. Opposite ratcheting may be obtained by shifting the handle 35 of the cam in the opposite direction.

The ratchet jaw may also be shifted relative to the head 13 so that the ratchet jaw obstructs the opening 14 and thereafter the handle 35 may be shifted to the neutral position wherein the ratchet jaw is locked in place. With this arrangement, the wrench will serve as a closed or a box end wrench.

It is also pointed out that the wrench head 13 may be constructed without the slot 14 therein so that the head is of boxed or closed configuration. Similarly the ratchet jaw 15 may also be constructed without the slot 16 therein so it is also of closed construction. However the uniquely arranged ratchet and lock elements permit ratcheting in opposite directions without requiring the wrench to be disassembled. The wrench may be constructed of different sizes, shapes, forms, color and materials as desired. In this regard the wrench may be formed of magnetic material to facilitate use thereof.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that I have provided a novel wrench which may function as a ratchet wrench, open end wrench, or a box wrench as desired. The provision of a pair of lock elements pivotally mounted about a common pivot each being provided with a spring to urge the same into locked condition not only provides a positive means for locking the ratchet jaw in any given position, but also permits selective opposite ratcheting as desired.-

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a novel ratchet wrench, which is not only of simple and inexpensive construction, but one which functions in a more efcient manner than any heretofore known comparable wrench.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. A ratchet wrench comprising an elongate hollow handle,

a generally arcuate head of channel shape cross-sectional configuration and integrally formed at one end of said handle, said head having a slot therein,

an arcuate ratchet jaw positioned interiorly of and concentrically with said head and being revolvable relative thereto, said ratchet jaw having an inner face dened by a plurality of symmetrically arranged gripping surfaces, said jaw having a plurality of Similar ratchet cogs integrally formed therewith and projecting outwardly therefrom and delning an arcuate ratchet throughout the outer peripheral surface thereof, said jaw having a slot therein corresponding in size to said slot in said head,

a pair of similar lock elements positioned interiorly of said handle, a common pivot pivotally ymounting said lock elements within said handle for pivotal movement between locked and unlocked positions, said common pivot being located intermediate the respective ends of said lock elements, each lock element when in the locked position engaging said ratchet and preventing movement in one direction relative to said handle,

a pair of similar U-shaped spring members positioned interiorly of said handle and one of said spring members engaging one of said lock elements to urge the same into the locked position and the other of said spring members engaging the other of said lock elements to urge the same into the locked position,

an actuating cam located interiorly of said handle and being spaced from said locking elements, an actuating handle positioned exteriorly of said wrench handle and connected to said cam for shifting the same in either direction from a neutral position, to shift said spring members and unlock said lock elements, said actuating calm when in the neutral position being disposed out of engaging relation with said spring members, and when shifted in one direction engaging one of said spring members to shift the same out of locking engagement with one of said lock members, and when shifted in the other direction engaging the other of said spring members to shift the same out 0f locking engagement with the other of said lock elements.

2. The ratchet wrench as dened in claim 1 wherein said ratchet cogs are of arcuate configuration and adjacent of said cogs are separated by an arcuate concavity, each lock element including an arcuate ratchet engaging portion for engaging the ratchet of said jaw, said actuating cam when in the neutral position being disengaged from said spring members so that the lock elements engage a pair of adjacent concavities of said ratchet jaw and lock the same against movement in either direction.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,203,685 11/1916 Baker 81-62 2,202,402 5/1940 Rueb 81-62 X 2,578,410 12/1951 Filiatreault 81-582 FOREIGN PATENTS 584,232 1/ 1947 Great Britain.

JAMES L. JONES, JR, Primary Examiner 

